Jiyuu
by Kanna37
Summary: "Jiyuu,"  she whispered.  "True freedom is found only when you are at peace with your heart."  Kagome gets a bit of a glimpse into Naraku's heart, and shares her knowledge with the Inutachi. 3rd Best Inu/Kag Romance IYFG 3rd quarter.


**Jiyuu**

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Inuyasha.

-sSs-

Inuyasha groaned, W_hy do I feel so sore? _He shifted, A_nd why am I laying on the ground? _he thought_, _scrunching his eyes closed tighter before reluctantly opening them, blinking in the dim light as his ears flicked – he could hear Miroku and Sango approaching... and that's when his memories kicked in, and he started to sit up with a louder groan as abused muscles shifted over bruised ribs.

"Oi," he said, lifting a hand to press to his aching head.

"Inuyasha," Sango's voice came to him, sounding hesitant. "Where's Kagome?"

At that one, short question, his head shot up and he whipped it around to stare at her. "Isn't she with you guys?" he asked. "The last I remember, she was going to you and Miroku like I told her, and I thought she made it!"

Miroku's expression became grim, even as Sango's gained a measure of panic. "No, Inuyasha, the last we caught sight of Kagome, she was running towards you – and then that huge blast hit, and neither of us saw her again. _We_ thought she was with _you_."

Inuyasha's expression instantly moved from confused to horrified, and he jumped to his feet, his own discomfort forgotten in his fear for Kagome, he began to frantically search the battlefield looking for any trace of the little miko... but he couldn't find anything that said she'd ever even been there. She was just... gone, as though she'd never existed.

Panicked, he screamed out her name in denial...

He was stricken at the thought that she'd been taken from him.

-sSs-

They had been walking along, perfectly at peace, bantering back and forth when Kagome had felt a huge piece of the jewel – that meant Naraku, and it hadn't been moments later when they were in a battle for their very lives, the spider hanyou seeming even more vicious than normal. Inuyasha had been hard pressed, and he'd sent Kagome off towards the others for safety's sake – he'd wanted her away from Naraku – didn't ever want to see that filth touch her.

And that's when all hell had broken loose – an explosion the likes of which he'd never seen had rocked everything, and then... nothing. Until he'd awoken... and couldn't find Kagome.

That brought him to now.

"_KAGOME!"_

"Are you looking for _her_, Inuyasha?" came the insidious voice of his greatest enemy, followed by his friend's gasps of fear and surprise. He whipped around, and blanched, terror closing his throat for a long moment as his worst nightmare was brought to horrible life before his very eyes.

Naraku, in all his black, tainted infamy, hovered before them... holding an unconscious Kagome in strangely gentle arms, as though he were a proud groom holding his bride on his wedding night.

It was a sadistic mockery of something that should have been sacred. _It shouldn't be him holding her!_

Fists clenching in enraged fury, he growled out long and low, eyes flashing to crimson as he crouched before the spider. _"Let-her-go,_ Naraku."

He had thought it was bad when Naraku had gotten his hands on Kikyou, something inside him had been horrified at the thought of that bastard touching Kikyou as if he had any right... but that feeling was a thousand times aggravated in this one moment at seeing _Kagome_ in his arms, and the odd look of almost... longing in the spider's eyes as he gazed down at her.

He'd never looked at Kikyou like that, and something inside Inuyasha clenched tight in warning...

"Isn't she beautiful, Inuyasha?" he asked, almost as though speaking to himself, though he'd addressed his nemesis. "Her soul - it's so large, and so pure... it's warm," he whispered. "It gives... peace – even to one such as I," he sighed. "It's quite strange... as much as I wanted Kikyou, she never gave me this same feeling. I think..." he trailed off for a moment, taking in the repelled yet almost unwillingly fascinated look on the inu hanyou's face, before looking back down at the still sleeping woman in his arms, finishing, "Yes... I really think you can have Kikyou. I need what Kagome can give me..."

A thunderous growl broke forth from Inuyasha's chest then, his rage rendering him unable to actually articulate words, and Sango and Miroku both yelled denials as well, letting him know that they would fight him as well if he tried to take the woman he was holding so closely. But what could they really do? After all, _he _was the one holding her...

"And how do you intend to stop me? If you attack, you will only harm her. Can you do that, Inuyasha? Could you really kill her just so that you could get to me?" Naraku mocked. "Is this not a fair trade? I keep Kagome... and you get to keep your beloved Kikyou. I will no longer chase her, or try to kill her – she is freely yours."

"Bastard! It's not Kagome you really want, it's the jewel!" he shouted, something inside him needing to deny the look in those evil eyes as he gazed upon Kagome's slim form. He couldn't let himself even _think_ about Naraku's words about Kagome actually being the truth...

"Oh, eventually I will have the jewel. But my desire for this priestess is something separate – the jewel is simply for a wish, is it not? Kagome..." he shifted her closer to his chest as he looked down at her, one hand gently brushing her raven locks over her shoulder to trail down her back, and Inuyasha watched, mesmerized, as those flowing tresses waved gently in the slight breeze.

Naraku's voice speaking again broke into his daze, and he lifted crimson eyes to stare with absolute hatred and malice at the spider.

"Kagome is for life. After all, since I no longer have need of the one wish I wanted for so long... it leaves me free to think of another. One lifetime is not enough to bask in her presence, is it, Inuyasha?" Naraku raised knowing eyes to stare at him with a smirk. "Better to use the wish to make her as immortal as I. Eventually, with all of time before her, she will come to love me. One such as her was never meant to be alone, after all..."

"I _will _destroy you, Naraku – you'll never have any kind of forever with Kagome, I swear this on every inch of my soul!" the provoked hanyou howled. "_Get your filthy hands off of her_!"

He flinched as a hand came up to lay on his shoulder, and he turned his head to stare at Miroku with bloody eyes. "What, monk? Can't you see that he's touching her? I've got to get her away from him!"

"Inuyasha, how do you intend to do that without hurting Kagome?" he met Inuyasha's gaze with an intense one of his own. "We don't want him touching her, either, but what can we do?"

Inuyasha jerked his head back around and finally lost his fight with his demon side, an evil grin curling his lips as he looked at a now surprised Naraku. Crests writhing into existence on his cheeks, and hatred openly bleeding into his eyes, he pinned the spider holding _his_ miko with a gaze desiring nothing less than the dark hanyou's blood.

"I can do _this_," he smirked, and in the blink of an eye, he leapt, moving so fast that no one even had the chance to move before he was ripping into the flesh that had dared to taint Kagome's purity with its disgusting scent. "Kikyou isn't mine, and she's not yours, Naraku – so you can't give her to me. But Kagome _is _mine, and I will _never_ let you have her," he snarled.

Deadly sharp claws opened Naraku's shoulder in almost the same place he'd ripped Kikyou open so long ago, only worse, and he lost his grip in his shock on Kagome. She started to fall, but before she could come anywhere close to the ground, Inuyasha had her, landing gently, he hunched over her protectively, watching as the spider scowled.

Naraku was enraged, his prize having been taken so quickly and forcefully, but he knew he couldn't do anything at this point with his shoulder laid open and his arm pretty much hanging from a thread – Inuyasha would be able to easily escape from anything he tried to do. "I will be back, Inuyasha, and then I _will_ have her, and nothing you do will stop me," he hissed, before whirling into his miasma cloud and disappearing.

His friends were still staring at him with shock and uncertainty because of his transformation, but he ignored them and focused only on the woman in his arms. She was still limp, unaware, and he was strangely glad for that. He could feel her aura, it was strong, as was her pulse, so he knew she would eventually be okay. But he never wanted her to have a memory of being held by their enemy as she had been, nor of his words.

Naraku could say what he wanted, but he would never have Kagome. If he ever tried to take her again, hell would come to earth, and there wouldn't be enough pieces left of him for the kami to reincarnate.

That was no vow – it was an absolute certainty.

His youkai blood slowly calming at the feel of Kagome's tiny form in his arms, her sweet scent surrounding him, he buried his face in her hair, desperately inhaling, needing to calm the rest of the way back down. He didn't want to startle her when she woke to red eyes and writhing crests.

He closed his eyes tight, then, knowing he'd be having nightmares for years of the sight of Kagome being held by Naraku.

They startled back open at Kagome's voice speaking softly.

"Even Naraku's wish is something simple," she said softly, sadly. "His heart is echoing it's desires from before, it's still calling out inside him – and no matter how hard he tries to rid himself of it, those desires will never free him. He'll always want the same thing."

Inuyasha's eyes widened as Miroku and Sango gasped in surprise. "Y-you were awake, Kagome?" the hanyou asked, strangely unsettled to find that she had been.

She looked up at him then, a small, sad smile on her face. "Not really. I wasn't... awake, but my soul could feel him – I could feel his heart. Everyone, no matter how much they wish they didn't, has a heart..." she chuckled a little then, "... even Sesshoumaru or Naraku." She winced then, and closed her eyes as she reached a hand to her head. "Boy, I feel like I tried to use my head as a jackhammer," she moaned.

Strangely subdued, Inuyasha really didn't say anything to her observations about his brother and Naraku, instead slinging out quiet orders to the group to get a camp set up. He himself took Kagome's backpack from Sango, and quickly set up Kagome's bed, laying her down with such a tender touch she flushed, eyes wide at the look on his face and in his eyes.

"Rest, Kagome," he said solemnly. He turned after a moment and looked at the taijiya. "Oi, Sango – could you go through her bag and find those herbs for pain for her?" he asked softly.

Sango nodded, thoughts losing themselves in that confrontation, and the surprising revelation... "Inuyasha," she said as she handed him the pills and a water bottle for Kagome, "Naraku didn't even try to take the shards from Kagome at all."

She didn't say anything else; she didn't need to, as Miroku's expression said he'd noted the same thing. And from the look on the hanyou's face, he understood what she was saying – Naraku's desire really _had_ been for Kagome, and not the shards this time.

The stakes had just gone up...

His fists clenched as he stared at his hands. "Keh. Doesn't matter what the bastard wants – he ain't getting it, simple as that."

Kagome sighed as she looked up at the sky in the direction that Naraku had gone. "I can tell you what he wants... he wants what we all want. He wants to be loved. He's just gone about trying to get it the wrong way."

Everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at her. Inuyasha's ears flattened to his head. "Don't tell me you feel sorry for him, wench! And I can't believe that, anyway – that bastard doesn't know anything about love!"

She looked towards him, then, a far away look in her eyes. "Yes, he does, Inuyasha. If he didn't, he would never have been able to pull what he did on you and Kikyou. Or what he's done with Sango and Kohaku, and Miroku. He uses the needs and desires of the heart in all his schemes – if he didn't understand the heart, he wouldn't be able to do what he has."

As astounded as they were at her words, they all immediately knew that she was right.

"It's really sadly ironic," she continued, "that his heart is what will defeat him in the end. When it finally comes down to it, he won't be able to deny himself what he really longs for deep down – even more than love."

Inuyasha frowned at her, perplexed, as both Sango and Miroku made little surprised noises.

"Well, what the hell does he want more than love?"

"Peace."

A still silence filtered over the group as the three that had been awake while Naraku was there remembered his words.

"_It gives... peace – even to one such as I."_

Inuyasha looked down at his hands. _Yes... she gives peace, to me, too. _He scowled.

_But that bastard will have to find his own path to peace, 'cause I'll never give him Kagome. She's __my__ peace._

"Keh," he said, clenching his hand tight, then looking up at Kagome. "The only peace he's gonna find now is at the end of my sword. That's the only way I'm willing to let him have it," he swore.

Kagome nodded. "And he knows this, too. I could see it inside him, deep within the darkness, though he hasn't consciously realized it yet. He knows he's going to die. But it's a price he's willing to pay to find what he wants."

She met everyone's gazes for one long moment each, then looked down at her hands.

"It's the only mercy he understands now. And it's enough. His fate is the same as Kagura's – to find his freedom, his peace, he will die. Jiyuu," she whispered. "True freedom is found only when you are at peace with your heart."

A breeze picked up, and everyone there could almost feel Kagura's presence as they all looked into the sky to watch leaves from the forest floor get picked up and spiral into the air.

"Jiyuu," Inuyasha muttered. "Freedom. I think... I think I understand now," he said, then he glanced at a knowing Kagome. "I still hate him – but I'll give him his freedom, and his peace. Because his death won't just give him peace – it'll give all of us, all his victims, peace, too. Two for one. I guess that's as good as it gets, ne?"

Kagome kept her gaze trained on the sky. _Sometimes freedom is very expensive – but it's a cost Naraku brought down on himself, so there's nothing for it. The price has to be paid._

"Yeah... that's as good as it gets," she finally said, softly. Still looking at the now dark sky, she sighed almost mournfully.

_We all want peace... I only hope your peace doesn't rely on going with Kikyou to hell..._

_I couldn't take it if it did, Inuyasha._

She was a bit caught off-guard when the hanyou of her heart crouched next to her, smiled slightly at her, and whispered, "Naraku dyin' will bring me a measure of peace towards the past... but don't worry, Kagome – as long as you're around, I've got all I need to find my own peace. _You_ are my jiyuu."

Her eyes widened, and then she smiled at him like the sun coming up.

_He always knows..._

-cCc-

A/N: This takes place in the final season of Inuyasha, between Kagura's death, and Kikyou's death. Most of what Kagome says here also comes from the Final Act, but is taken from later – when they are fighting the final battle, and confronting Naraku for the last time. They are basically along the same lines of what Kagome says to him at that time.

I just was fascinated by what Naraku's true desire really was, and how, as Kagome said, it was really a modest wish. And on top of that, his reaction to her words at the end – he was so taken aback at how she could see straight into his heart. Of course, I also take Naraku's final words about the warmth of the peace that finally washes over him, and use them here, too. I know that in canon, Naraku showed no desire for Kagome - that was just a little creative license for this story.

Anyway, enjoy the Inu/Kags fluff!

Amber

(For those who missed the point, jiyuu means freedom.)


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